Adjusted For Inflation, PlayStation 4 And Xbox One Reasonably Priced

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are not cheap consoles, but compared to the history of video game console prices, the two are both priced reasonably.

Ars Technica has put together an easy to read chart looking at console prices through the decades in order to create an understandable comparison to next-generation hardware. Consoles like the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis are priced about the same as Microsoft and Sony's new consoles when you consider the worth of the dollar back in the late eighties/early nineties. Considering inflation, the two consoles cost about $342 and $357 respectively.

You can also see the breakdown of console price drops through the decades and how everything stands up against one another. Ars Technica has a full rundown of interesting statistics and graphs.

I bought my kids both. I honestly don't remember the Saturn Bundle being that much at Toy's R Us when I bought it for them that Christmas. I can't imagine that I would have paid that. Yet, it is still sitting in my Store room gathering dust. Weird.

Interesting. According to those graphs, the PS4 is about the same price as the PS2 was (with inflation factored in), in fact, it's actually $5 cheaper. The XBox One is only a little over $20 more than the 360 with the inflation. I didn't realize that the 360 was $400 at launch. For some reason, I thought it was cheaper than that, but I didn't get it, so that may be why I don't remember...

This chart proves just how much of a bargain the Super NES was back in the day.

And believe it or not, my parents probably paid the most possible for gaming: they bought my older brother the Genesis/Sega CD/32x combo of trash. Even if they didn't buy the products when they carried their launch-date prices, the trio would have probably costed them around $1000. Imagine how disappointed they felt when a grand bought them technology that was to become outdated in a year's time. Sad. :(

For some odd reason paying less than 400 bucks for a console at launch kinda makes it feel a lil cheap to me, not that the consoles would reflect so, but its not that far away from the price of the current systems to mark a next gen release and my laptop costs more than that. I'd feel a bit more gratified working hard to save up around 500 on a PS4.

I think this is a weak argument. I don't care how you adjust for inflation (gas, rent, food, etc.). Fact of the matter is, unemployment is through the roof for young people today, and I recently read that damn near 75% of the country is living paycheck to paycheck. I think it's lame to do anything other than call it for what it is...something people don't NEED to be buying right now. A lot of people that are going to buy it should be smart and make do with what they have for awhile longer, until it comes down in price. But this is America, and part of the reason no one saves money is because a lot of people are damn stupid when it comes to finances. So yeah...who cares. Rent is due? So what, I have money coming in! So what the hey, let's go blow $430-$550 (after taxes) just to have a hot new toy. Live it up while the world slides further into the depression. Saving is for idiots!